Comments by "" (@A86) on "Son Beaten to Death For not Memorizing Koran" video.

  1. 1) I'm not defending Islam. Because I disagreed with you doesn't mean I agree with Fundamentalists. 2) Your argument can be applied to most religious conflicts, including Islamists ones. Rarely are wars based PURELY on religion, usually religion is just a motivation to motivate the peons and everyday people to fight. Usually wars using religion have some secular goal (land, politics, money, ethnicity, nationalism, etc.) and use religion to justify it.
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  2. They believe in rebirth (which is a metaphysical theory), believe in different mystical realms, in metaphysical states of mind and believe humans can develop powers over nature. Not saying we know whether such things exist or not but proclaiming that they do and detailing them is a FAITH. That's more than a philosophy and it's not empirical. I think Buddhist monks and Western converts engage in this "We're not a religion we're a philosophy!" to sound hip or appeal to secularists and atheists.
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  3. Agree. The idea that Buddhists all follow a strict "ahimsa" code is a fairy tale that became popular in the West when some Western Hippie/New Age-types started seeking out Eastern religions and were told by some opportunistic monks that all or most Buddhists are like monks in Shangri-La. A quick read of some Asian history shows that's not true. Warriors killed all the time with the blessings or encouragement of Buddhist religious leaders. Every religion is corruptible.
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  4. It wouldn't be the first war in Asian history with Buddhism to excuse it. Many a Japanese and Chinese warlord used Buddhism to convince people throwing their lives away was okay because they'll just be reincarnated anyway and be rewarded by reincarnating in a higher station. Not to mention the "Burakumin" caste in Japan is based on Buddhist dogma about ritual cleanliness.
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  5. Not to mention just like most religions Buddhist monks have a historical reputation for sometimes abusing their revered status to abuse people. Tibetan monks had a reputation for sometimes molesting local kids, similar to Catholic priests. I know some Western Hippie-types have romantic notions that Buddhists are shaven-head pacifists living a vegan lifestyle on mountain tops and being unwilling to so much as step on a bug but that's not reality. It's a romantic fantasy.
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  6. The Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka are Buddhists and quite violent.
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  7. Agree. I think every idea and ideology is corruptible, including science. Science has unfortunately been used to justify awful things before (the nuking of Japan, the Tuskegee Experiment, the Plutonium Files, extreme animal testing, etc.) I think the sooner Humans get it through their head that no idea or ideology is "incorruptible" the sooner they will start to use reason and empathy to figure out right and wrong. Anyone searching for the "untarnished religion" is wasting their time.
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  8. I agree. I'm not an atheist but I don't believe a person has to believe in higher powers to be an ethical or moral person. That annoys me too about Buddhism because it's quite obvious it's more than a philosophy - it IS a damn religion. They have priests, an established monastic order, holy texts (you don't have to believe what the Buddha says but it's assumed ultimately questioning will bring you to agree with him), a pantheon of sorts and a belief in a supernatural cosmology.
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  9. I'm sorry but that's just not true: (.) telegraph (.) co (.) uk/news/worldnews/1554817/Sri-Lankas-Buddhist-monks-are-intent-on-war (.) html Why are you defending Buddhism so hard? Are you yourself a Buddhist or something? Any ideology can be taken to extremes or used to justify violence by extremists. Buddhism is no exception. It's still a religion and requires dogma and has a hierarchy of leadership who often claim divine inspiration, it's easy to use stuff like that to manipulate people.
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  10. "Come back to me when you hear/see a bunch of Buddhists shouting "Buddha is the greatest"" You have Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka arguing the Buddha wants them to do what they're doing. That's just as bad as shouting "Allahu Akbar" before blowing yourself up. You don't have to shout a particular phrase before you kill someone to be a religious nut.
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  11. What about Asian Fascists? They're usually not Christian. Not to mention non-religious people have engaged in all sorts of atrocities as well, they just didn't justify it on religion (not that not using religion to justify it makes it any better).
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